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VanessaVH
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| Posted: June 09 2011 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
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How dangerous is it to get them as an infant; and how hard should we try to avoid it right now? (baby is one week old today)
We just found out that friends currently have it we haven't seen them in a few weeks, but my 2 sisters in law just purposely exposed all their younger kids who haven't already had the chicken pox. None of mine have had them yet, and while I do really want them to be exposed young, I am really worried about baby.
To further complicate things, one of DH's brothers is getting married next Sat and we are supposed to be having the baby's baptism the week after that (which given a 2 week incubation would mean they would be getting sick then?) And the god parents are one of the families that was just exposed.
I am just not sure how big of a deal to make of this... Should we hole up and totally avoid the functions and keep our kids apart for the next few weeks, (which seems extreme, but...) or keep limited exposure and pray for God's will or purposely expose them just to get it over with. Any input to help us discern this would be appreciated!
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JennGM
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| Posted: June 09 2011 at 4:07pm | IP Logged
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ARe you nursing, Vanessa? Did you have chicken pox when you were younger? If yes to both of these, usually young nursing infants have Mommy's resistance.
I'm sure someone else more knowledgeable can provide more definite answers.
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cathhsmom
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| Posted: June 09 2011 at 4:13pm | IP Logged
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Most infant cases are very mild, especially in nursing moms. The only exception is if the baby has a weaker immune system or is a newborn.
DD had what her pedi thought might have been Chicken Pox at around 7 months old. It was so mild they could not tell 100% that it was pox or not, but they decided to call it pox since it was going around our area. She was fine - a little fussy but baking soda baths cleared it right up. I did give her a bit of benedryl with her doc's approval to help her sleep at night, but that was it.
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: June 09 2011 at 4:52pm | IP Logged
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My baby got it at 7mos. She seemed to still have immunity after having direct contact with my shingles rash and then having direct contact with the first child getting it(about 2 wks later)...followed by another dc 2 wks later...and finally she got it after 3 others came down with it. I really think she should have gotten it sooner, so it looks like it was nursing immunity before it.
Here is the funny thing. It barely bothered her. I gave her oatmeal baths regularly. She would NOT swallow the liquid benedryl and barely noticed the spots on her. She healed ultra-fast too! I think her teething bothered her more than the pox did! I hope this helps, somewhat!
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VanessaVH
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| Posted: June 09 2011 at 5:23pm | IP Logged
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I am nursing, and had chicken pox when I was younger, but he is a newborn, if he ended up catching them he would be less than a month old!
OK, trying to come up with a game plan before I present to DH (conversations seem to go better when I ask what do you think of X plan than if I ask what should we do...)
I am thinking to bring everyone to the wedding and not let them go by the other kids, then bring baby to wedding reception and not pass around, and leave the other kids home... (I should decide soon though, since I already RSVP for the kids too and should let the bride know) The doctor said he would be very unlikely to get it from adults, and I don't believe any of the exposed kids will be at the reception. And I don't think there would be much exposure just from being at church if we don't sit together...
The baptism has me stumped though... I hate to wait, the reason we picked that weekend is because it is the only time we could do it before DH's family goes up north for all of July and August.... They really don't like making trips back to town during that time and I am not sure I want to wait until September. I am tempted to ask to have him baptized this week and just ask the god parents not to bring the kids they exposed, and maybe skip having a party or just ask anyone with possibly sick children to not attend because each child having their own special day is really important to me. (would that be rude?)
Anyways thank you for the advice and for putting up with my emotional post partum venting!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: June 09 2011 at 6:24pm | IP Logged
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It is NOT rude to ask people not to expose a newborn to illness. It's excessively rude to do so when you know your kids are sick.. or exposed so that you hope they are sick.. I mean.. no one can know that they won't come down sick the next day unless they know they've been exposed.. and in this case.. they do know.
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MaryM
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| Posted: June 09 2011 at 6:47pm | IP Logged
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I'm generally of the expose them and don't worry about it crowd, but not with a newborn under 3-4 weeks. I've done breastfeeding support for many years and know that there is a greater risk for neonates. I've posted before:
Quote:
| It is considered potentially more serious for a neonate - if baby contracts it in utero right before birth, is exposed during birth process, or contracts it in first few weeks. So they have extra precautions of isolating a baby from a mother with chicken pox up to 3-4 weeks post partum. Older than that, generally has the same prognosis as an older child. |
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With one still so young I'd be cautious if I knew there was potential for anyone being contagious. Though the plan to baptize this weekend seems like a good one. It would be before possible contagious stage for those children exposed. 10-21 days is the incubation period, but if it hasn't been 10 days by this weekend, I would not have any concern with them being contagious.
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organiclilac
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| Posted: June 20 2011 at 10:02am | IP Logged
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This just came up on a local list. Apparently, getting chicken pox before 1 year of age increases the chance of getting shingles during childhood. A friend's daughter (I think she's around 4 yrs?) just got shingles after having pox as an infant. The benefit here is that childhood cases of shingles are typically mild, and these kids are less likely to get shingles as adults, when cases tend to be more severe.
I have some personal experience here as well, as I had chicken pox when my little sister was about a month old. She had ONE poc. The doctors did not believe my mother that she really had chicken pox... until she got shingles around a year old. I don't remember if her case of shingles was bad or not, I'd have to ask my mother. But, it was good to find out that she's less likely to have it again later.
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DominaCaeli
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| Posted: June 20 2011 at 10:37am | IP Logged
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VanessaVH wrote:
| They really don't like making trips back to town during that time and I am not sure I want to wait until September. I am tempted to ask to have him baptized this week and just ask the god parents not to bring the kids they exposed, and maybe skip having a party or just ask anyone with possibly sick children to not attend because each child having their own special day is really important to me. (would that be rude?) |
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I definitely wouldn't wait all the way until September to do the baptism just for the safety of your little one's soul. And I don't think it's rude at all to ask sick/exposed children/families to stay at home when a newborn's health is involved! So I think your plan is a good one.
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stellamaris
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organiclilac wrote:
| This just came up on a local list. Apparently, getting chicken pox before 1 year of age increases the chance of getting shingles during childhood. A friend's daughter (I think she's around 4 yrs?) just got shingles after having pox as an infant. The benefit here is that childhood cases of shingles are typically mild, and these kids are less likely to get shingles as adults, when cases tend to be more severe. |
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My fourth child was exposed to chicken pox the day she was born. She was too young to have received the immune-enhancing benefits of nursing, and she contracted chicken pox. She had a very mild case-only 3 pox marks- but at 22 mos. she had a very painful bout if shingles which left a permanent scar on her lower back. The dr. indicated that she could suffer from shingles again any time she was under stress or conditions that compromised her immune response. She evidently was too young to have an adequately strong enough immune response when she was first exposed to the virus, and consequently the virus is still present in her body. It can flare up again.
Shingles is very painful. I would not knowingly exposed a very young infant (under 6 mos.) to chicken pox if I could possibly help it. Generally, I take a relaxed view on exposing my children to different illnesses, but in this case, I would be cautious
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JennGM
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| Posted: June 21 2011 at 8:32am | IP Logged
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Very interesting. One of my sisters was exposed as a newborn. I remember having chicken pox for the baptism and we were sneaking in to get food.
She didn't catch anything, had my mother's resistance. Later, as a teenager, the last 4 children got chicken pox. She had such a mild case -- just a few pox and that was it.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: More Chicken Pox Questions
